High demand for condos and low supply driving up prices says analyst

Condos are the dominant feature of many Vancouver neighbourhoods but now a firmthat analyses real estate data suggests there needs to be even more in the city.

Urban Analyticssaysdemand for condos is outstripping supply, and that is in part to blame for rising prices.

"Based on who we see buying, and the demand that continues to appear to flow into the market, unless there's some severe economic shock, we don't really see much drop in the amount of demand in the marketplace," said MichaelFerreira, withUrbanAnalytics.

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In a report called "Soaking Up the Supply" the company compared the total number of newly-built, multi-family units sold each quarter since 2012, with the number of units left unsold.

"From the middle of 2012,there was a spread of about 7500 units between those two metrics," said Ferreira. "Nowit's now just over 1200 units."

Ferreirathinks the real estate industry andmunicipalitiesneed to figure out a way to increase the speed at which new developments are approved in order to keep the supply upand prices down.